Next Right Steps
Storydwelling leaders will curate “next right steps” on this page to guide our collective action, as we seek to lovingly and powerfully respond to crises of belonging in our city, county, state and country. These are actions we discern are purposeful, clear, and aligned with our values– with a particular focus on local action and collaboration with partners. Please reach out to Darci (darci at storydwelling dot org) with any questions or to suggest next right steps for our community. We have developed a discernment document that helps us discern if, when, and how we engage with a particular public action.
Latest Action
Tell our County Commissioners: Support Homelessness Initiatives
More actions
& past actions
Volunteering & Learning
Read about Welcome Week led by the City of Bend September 12 – 21, with various events hosted by local organizations, including Asian and Pacific Islanders Collective (APIC – Sept 13 Fashion Show), the Latino Community Association (LCA), The Father’s Group, and Vamanos Outside. Follow these organizations on social media for more information and consider donating and volunteering to support events.
In August, LCA is hosting online training for community members on how to be an Ice Verifier and Human Rights Observer. Contact Advocacy@latca.org for more information and to register.
Understanding Water in Central Oregon
In recent months, Storydwelling has organized and partnered with local organizers to challenge the stale and misguided public approvals for the Thornburgh Resort (See June 3 post below regarding the letter to Deschutes County signed by approximately 200 people. “We can do hard things!” ). One of our central concerns with this proposed development is the illegitimate* sanction of water waste for unconscionable golf courses and superfluous vacation homes. To continue learning about the history and current state of water management in the region, let’s read this article When Wells Run Dry in The Source. Stay tuned for more opportunities to participate in policy action.
*Warm Springs Treat Rights were violated
Send Thank you note to Bend Councilors
Open Letter to the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners: YES to Treaty Rights, NO to Thornburgh
Action: Sign and share this public letter to the Deschutes County Commissioners
Thornburgh Resort Violates Our Vision of Central Oregon as a Place to Call Home
Sign and share the letter HERE
Make Polluters Pay
Deadline to sign: June 3
Action: Sign and share this public letter
When Make Polluters Pay, one of the Sacred Organizing Coalition’s top priority bills, didn’t get called for a vote out of committee last month it effectively died for this session. But our commitment to hold big fossil fuel companies financially accountable for their role in the climate crisis is still very much alive.
Now, as a follow-up, we have the opportunity to sign onto an Open Letter penned by youth–including three from Bend Youth Collective!–from the Youth Solidarity Movement. The letter expresses their disappointment and calls on Gov. Kotek, Sen. President Wagner, and Committee Chair Sollman to commit to passing Make Polluters Pay next session.
Sign and share the letter HERE.
Full text below:
Governor Kotek, Senate President Wagner, Committee Chair Sollman,
We are youth from different parts of Oregon who felt like we had to do something together. We are writing this letter to say we are disappointed that the Make Polluters Pay Act was not moved this session to be voted on.
Last April, many people, including young people like us, showed up at the Capitol in Salem to share our stories, speak with lawmakers, and give testimony at the Make Polluters Pay bill hearing. For us youth, this was our first time doing anything like that. It was very empowering, and it felt good that we could make a difference when we worked together and that our voices would be heard.
We were very vulnerable in telling our stories to you. But now we feel upset because by not even putting it up for a vote in committee, you didn’t take into account how important this is to us.
We are growing up in a time when climate change is already hurting our communities. Many adults probably think of summer as the outside time to experience the sun. Yet we can’t remember a time when there haven’t been major fires. What we think of summer are the many times we can’t go outside due to the smoke and the fires.
A few years back, the Almeda fires in Southern Oregon forced the extended family of one of the writers of this letter to evacuate their homes and experience fire damage to their homes and personal property. It was a scary time that we hope no one else would have to experience. Yet it happens over and over again to many people.
Make Polluters Pay makes big fossil fuel companies help pay for the damage they caused, and pay to prepare for future disasters. Ever since we were young, we were taught that when you make a mess, clean it up. We want a future where big corporations clean up the messes they make. We are fighting for a time when everyone can live in a cleaner, better society.
We want you to know that we are paying attention. There are many people across Oregon – young and old, parents, grandparents, pastors, friends – supporting us. And we will be back to fight for this bill again. Will you commit publicly to supporting this bill in the next session?
Our future matters. We and all of our co-signers look forward to hearing from you.
Signed,
Dietrich Hange, 11, Hillsboro
Samuel Henderson, 14, Bend
Lena Field, 13, Bend
Luna Kinz, 12, Bend
Sylvia Ravensberg, 12, North Plains
Skye Ravensberg, 12, North Plains
Fund Water Infrastructure in Warm Springs
Deadline to write: June 13
Target: Capital Construction Subcommittee Co-Chairs Girod and Nosse and Joint Ways & Means Committee Co-Chairs Lieber and Sanchez
Background: The Oregon legislature can consider and include in their budget needed funding for repairs and improvements for the water filtration system for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
There are continual line breaks and boil-water notices on the reservation, and water has–for many years–not been trusted among residents there. In solidarity with the indigenous inhabitants of the land that is now called Central Oregon, we can advocate for needed improvements and repairs.
Please send your letter to the following addresses. A script (please adapt) is below.
Sen.FredGirod@oregonlegislature.gov, Rep.RobNosse@oregonlegislature.gov, Sen.KateLieber@oregonlegislature.gov, Rep.TawnaSanchez@oregonlegislature.gov
Sample letter:
Hello, my name is Rev. Erika Spaet, and I am a resident of Bend. I write alongside other Central Oregon residents and people in my congregation–the Storydwelling community–as an act of solidarity and love for our neighbors in Warm Springs.
I’m writing to advocate for the inclusion of the following budget items in the State of Oregon’s budget:
- Warm Springs Reservation Water Plant filtration system
- Water main
- Water distribution system
- Warm Springs Reservation new moderate-income housing
- Warm Springs Reservation commissary project
In particular, I encourage you to fully fund the improvements to the Warm Springs Reservation’s water filtration system.
We know that the people of Warm Springs are the original inhabitants of the place I now call home, and which we now call Bend. I have visited the Warm Springs Reservation deliver donations of clean drinking water and connect with TEM staff and volunteers. Due to the age of the Reservation’s water plant, filtration and distribution systems, the system often breaks down due to burst pipes and other maintenance issues. Reservation residents are frequently put on boil water notices. And, understandably, even when there isn’t a boil water notice, residents are wary of trusting the water that flows out of their faucets. In addition, as climate change worsens, wells have been drying up.
Many Warm Springs residents are reliant on donations of clean drinking water. Although TEM limits residents to four gallons of water per family per day, TEM goes through donations very quickly–thousands of gallons a week, especially during the summer.
This situation is untenable. Clean water is a human right. People should be able to trust the water that comes out of their pipes. They shouldn’t have to worry about that water making them sick or making daily trips to TEM to pick up their family’s water supply.
The water crisis has already gone on too long. Please fully fund the repair and replacement of Warm Springs’ water system.
Sincerely,
Rev. Erika Spaet
Write to Sen. Broadman and Rep. Levy
Write to Sen. Broadman and Rep. Levy: We want an Oregon where all belong!
We’ll be collecting postcards in-person to send to our representatives who sit on the Ways and Means committee of the Oregon legislature. In particular, we are asking them to support:
Food for All (SB 611): Ensures every Oregonian–especially children–has access to food programs regardless of documentation status
Oregon New Neighbor Coordinated Access Act (SB149): Provides increased access to housing, education, workforce development and healthcare services for refugees and asylum-seekers in Oregon
Housing for Families and Youth (HB5011): Major investments for homeless assistance and shelter, affordable housing development and preservation, permanent supportive housing, and affordable homeownership programs.
Farmworkers Disaster Relief (HB 3193): Creates a permanent disaster relief fund to protect essential agricultural workers during extreme weather events
Can you write to Broadman and Levy with a postcard or an email? (Or both!) Postcards available on Sunday mornings at Storydwelling; at the Joy in Resistance rally on April 19, and in Pr. Erika’s office.
Emerson Levy: Rep.EmersonLevy@oregonlegislature.gov
Anthony Broadman: Sen.AnthonyBroadman@oregonlegislature.gov
Sample email:
Rep. Levy/Sen. Broadman:
I’m writing in support of bills in the legislature that would create an Oregon where all can more truly belong. These are values I have as a person of faith and fierce love, and I know they are values I share with Central Oregonians.
Each of these bills [choose one, or list them with their numbers] would support my neighbors, whether they are teeners experiencing housing instability or farmworkers who need to be able to feed their families. This is particularly important to me because [say a word or two about why these are important to you.]
Thank you for your work in advocating for Central Oregonians.
Thank you,
[your name and city]
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